Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) Receives $7.94 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.94.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on HL shares. TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Hecla Mining from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. National Bank Financial lowered Hecla Mining from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Hecla Mining from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Hecla Mining Stock Up 7.1 %

NYSE:HL opened at $5.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Hecla Mining has a 12-month low of $3.33 and a 12-month high of $7.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -131.50 and a beta of 1.92.

Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.01. Hecla Mining had a positive return on equity of 0.75% and a negative net margin of 2.27%. The company had revenue of $245.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $232.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.01) EPS. Hecla Mining’s revenue was up 34.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Hecla Mining will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Hecla Mining Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a $0.0138 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Hecla Mining’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -125.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hecla Mining

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HL. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Hecla Mining by 7.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,718,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,813,000 after acquiring an additional 456,107 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Hecla Mining by 51.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,435,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,991 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hecla Mining during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,210,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hecla Mining by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,865,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,499,000 after purchasing an additional 711,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hecla Mining by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,624,677 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,880,000 after buying an additional 340,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Hecla Mining Company Profile

Hecla Mining Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides precious and base metal properties in the United States, Canada, Japan, Korea, and China. The company mines for silver, gold, lead, and zinc concentrates, as well as carbon material containing silver and gold for custom smelters, metal traders, and third-party processors; and doré containing silver and gold.